Monday, March 2, 2009

Golf retailers are feeling the pinch....

There is no doubt that the economic slowdown is impacting the golf industry - however much of that talk centers around the sponsorship withdrawals of events on the various tours. Meanwhile, in many towns across America, the retailers from the Golf Mega Marts to the local repair shops are getting impacted in an equally significant manner.

This is not a topic that's getting a lot of mention from the mainstream golf media - but it's sort of like the elephant in the room.....everyone knows it is there, but is unwilling to talk about it. For those of you who regularly visit Bushwood CC, you are aware that I am an equipment "fan" (fanatic,some would say) - I change clubs frequently, read equipment reviews thoroughly, am always in search of the perfect ball, and write equipment reviews from time to time. This translates into my being a frequent visitor to 3 or 4 golf stores in my area (from the mega marts to the local guys). I typically stop in each of them once a week to chat with the staff, practice putting, check out any new stuff, etc. I'm also a pretty good customer, because I prefer to buy locally rather than via the web. Based on my visits and purchasing behavior over the last 6 months, I have noticed three things:(1) Traffic in general is down in all of the stores, but less so for the "local" guys: I attribute this to a loyal customer base who use these guys exclusively, and have been long time (10+ years) customers. To validate this, I asked the manager of my favorite "local" golf store - which he confirmed, He also said their repair and shaft/grip replacement trade is up about 20% in the last year.(2) Inventories are down: From golf clubs, to shirts, to caps, retailers are really cutting back on inventories. I'm a fan of Titleist gear (esp headwear), and I have noticed that the re-order frequency is WAY down. The same caps and visors that were there after Christmas are still there - and none of the new 2009 stuff has made it's way to the shelves yet. Dick's Sporting Goods now has a better selection of said headwear than the golf specialty stores.(3) Discounts to steady customers are fewer and far between: Back in the day (like, 12 months ago) I could expect to receive a discount of 10 to 20 % on anything I bought at my favorite nationwide golf retailer - the higher discounts on clothing, lower on golf clubs,balls, etc . Starting last fall, I noticed that only my favorite salesperson still gave me the discount, and that percent was less than before. Fast forward to last week - I found a couple of shirts that caught my eye. I took those, as well as a box of my current favorite balls to the register - expecting at least 15% off on the shirts and 10% off on the balls. When the dude handed me the charge card receipt, I glanced down at it - and noticed right away that I received ZERO discount. Not wanting to be a b&ll buster, I signed the receipt and walked out - no big deal. Later in the week, I went back in the same store - wanting to see if my theory was correct. I talked to one of the senior guys, who confirmed that their "ability" to discount to good customers had been reduced by the overall slow down in sales - simply put, they needed every dollar of revenue/profit that they could muster.

I really feel for these guys,because it was cool to go in the stores and be surrounded by golfers, loads of new gear, and the sound of good old commerce - hopefully those days will return soon. Until then, be patient with the retailers and support them whenever and however you can.

P.S. - There is a happy ending - I went back on Saturday and bought a sweet pair of shoes..and got discount of almost 20%. Let's hope this is a good sign...

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